


Cute as a Speckled Pup

by kinaesthetic



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, Non-Overwatch AU, One-shot drabble, meet cute, there's a very fluffy dog, welcome to the nebulous med-school AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-29
Updated: 2018-04-29
Packaged: 2019-04-29 16:06:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,472
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14476278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kinaesthetic/pseuds/kinaesthetic
Summary: Angela walks by this beautiful woman and her dog twice a week.Where do you look when someone walks their dog by you? Do you look at their face? Their dog’s? Not at them at all?More importantly, is there a patron saint for dog lovers and useless lesbians?





	Cute as a Speckled Pup

**Author's Note:**

> *breaks my AU rule and sets a domestic drabble outside the confines of the Overwatch universe completely*
> 
> DISCLAIMER: Every time I walk past a dog and their owner, I am never sure how or if to ask how to pet the dog. Since I live on a college campus, people are generally pretty friendly and/or understanding that a lot of kids are missing their dogs back home or need a fluffy friend to help with campus blues. So it's not unusual to see students asking to pet random dogs. However, I'm not capable of working such witchcraft. Anytime I've been blessed to pet a dog, it's because the dog was friendly and approached me first and I _quickly_ reassured the owner that I was more than okay with it. Otherwise, I just assume all dogs and owners are living their best lives and shouldn't be bothered. They respect my space and I'll respect theirs.  
>  That being said, please respect dog owners and their dog's space.

_Will this be the day that I ask?_

It doesn’t matter that Angela’s been walking past the young lady and her gorgeous Australian Shepherd for the better part of two months now. The question crosses her mind as she walks down the sidewalk every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon, and sometimes Fridays when she picks up an evening shift. Sometimes when it’s raining, as it often is in Seattle, the pair will be absent.

These are the walks home she enjoys the most though, when can see the young woman walking down the street, leash in hand. Angela busies herself with her phone until she’s close enough to politely make eye contact with her, then drops her gaze to the dog in front of her. The dog always ignores her, but she beams at it anyway, marveling at its overflowing fluffy fur and mottled coat.

Today, a slight cough gets her attention and when Angela looks up again, the other woman has a slight smirk on her face, no doubt a response to her wordless cooing. Angela can feel the heat rising in her face.

“You have a very beautiful dog!” She blurts as the pair comes closer.

The dog’s owner seems startled to hear her speak, before offering a genuine smile at Angela. “Thank you!”

They pass each other, just like any other day but she can hear behind her as the woman says “Did you hear that, Ange? She thinks you’re beautiful!”

Angela stops short, wondering if she should turn around and make that the moment in which they finally talk, maybe she can pet Ange and take her owner to one of the pet- friendly coffee shops downtown…

She pulls herself out of the daydream and turns around, but it’s too late. The pair’s well out of earshot now.

_Maybe next time…_

* * *

 

Both Wednesday and Thursday brought a bone-chilling, driving rain that made Angela’s commute to and from the clinic miserable. Angela hurried home with her coat drawn and hood up to keep her warm, lamenting the absence of the dog and its owner. Not long after she’d curled up on her couch with a mug of hot cocoa and a blanket, she received an email about a shift opening up; someone had fallen ill, likely on account of the weather. Despite already being content with her weekend as it was, Angela found herself emailing in to accept even before she thought about it. Now that it’s Friday afternoon, she regrets it quite a bit; the clinic seemed to be full of flu-miserable patients. A day of trying to remain cheerful in the face of those who could only wait for the virus run its course has taken its toll. However, the sight of the pup and her owner coming up the walk cheers her up considerably.

Since Tuesday, she’s been rehearsing everything she’s going to say as soon as it seems appropriate to speak, but the dog’s owner catches her eye first and throws that all out the window.

“You look tired today. Rowdy patients?” The dog owner stops walking, using her free hand to push her beaded hair behind her ear. Angela stops a couple of feet away, scrambling to revise her script in her head. The dog takes a seat once it realizes this is not a quick stop.

“Oh goodness, is it that obvious?” Angela rubs the back of her neck, sure she can feel blush rising to her cheeks. “I must be losing my touch.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean anything by it." She shakes her head, holding her free hand out in an apologetic gesture. "You’re usually quite chipper is all.”

“I’m better now having seen you,” Angela flashes a bright smile before realizing what she’s said. “Your dog is just so cute.”

“Oh really?” There’s that smirk again. “Just my dog?”

_Angela, get it together!_

“Well,” she stammers, “you’re both quite cute, if you’re asking me.”

It’s a surprise when the dog owner seems startled as if she hadn’t expected reciprocal flirting. Or maybe, Angela had gone too far. _Was that weird? I mean, she_ did _ask._

“Thanks, I suppose I was,” she says, extending a hand. “Ah, I’m Fareeha, by the way.”

“Angela. It’s nice to have a name for you. Calling you the cute dog owner in my head has been a bit wordy.”

_Argh! Cute dog owner and cute dog’s owner are two completely separate things!_

There’s a smile on her lips as Fareeha raises an eyebrow. “Angela? What a coincidence-”

“I heard you call your dog Ange the other day,” Angela blurts, relieved to be back on script. “I was wondering if we shared a name.”

“Almost,” Fareeha says, glancing down as the pup perks up at her nickname. “Her name is Angel, so she’s just missing the second ‘a’. It’s a good name. And she’s in good company.”

“Oh, of course!” Angela frantically waves her hands in front her. “I’m sure you’re a wonderful owner!”

Fareeha laughs; it’s a beautiful sound, like a wind chime in an autumn breeze. “No, I meant _you_. You’re nickname buddies. Your eyes match too, did you notice?”

Angela gives up on any pretense that the flirting isn’t working or mutual. She giggles, looking down at Angel. “Well, would you look at that. You’re right.”

“She’s a Siberian Husky-Australian Shepherd mix, so the blue eyes were pretty much a guarantee between the two breeds.” There's no mistaking the note of pride in her voice. Fareeha crouches down and gives Angel a few good scratches and a treat out of a pouch strapped around her waist.

“She’s practically perfect,” Angela smiles at the pup, who seems to be getting a little restless, treat notwithstanding. She takes a deep breath. “Would you mind if I pet her?”

This gets another laugh out of Fareeha. “Not at all. Angel,” The pup looks up expectantly. “You can say hello.”

Angel’s body language instantly changes from polite pup to a tail-wagging, tongue-lolling, snuffling ball of excitement. Angela drops to one knee, taking no care to keep her scrubs off the sidewalk.

“Hello sweetheart!” Angela coos, presenting a hand to be sniffed and licked. When Angel accepts it, she puts both hands behind her ears and gives her a hearty scratch. The dog’s tail thumps wildly against Fareeha’s leg and Angel stretches out her muzzle for a polite kiss. Angela allows the pup to lick her chin, laughing joyously. Angel squirms with joy and shoves her nose over her shoulder and into her hair bun.  Angela is borderline cuddling Angel by the time she remembers Fareeha’s kneeling right there. The brunette has a soft smile on her face.

 _She's so soft and sweet._ Angela peeks over Angel’s head and continues to scratch the dog’s chin with both hands. “I knew you were a good owner. She’s so well behaved. She’s never so much as sniffed at me before.”

Fareeha ducks her head at the praise. “She was the shelter’s problem child. No one wanted to spend the time to train her, so she kept getting returned.”

“Sounds like she just needed someone kind enough to give her a chance. Is that why you named her Angel?”

“Actually, that was her name before I adopted her. Can’t change it now.” Fareeha shrugs, shifting to kneel on her other knee. “It’s what she knows.”

“I think it suits her.”

“It suits you, too.” Fareeha grins. Since they’re both crouched on the sidewalk, they’re finally at eye level; Angela feels a little lost in Fareeha’s warm brown eyes. Angel wiggles, looking between them and wagging her tail.

“Miss Fareeha,” Angela can’t keep the smile out of her voice, even as she pretends to be scandalized. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were using your dog to flirt with me.”

“Quite frankly, Miss Angela, you’d be right.” Fareeha gets to her feet and Angela follows suit. "I would invite you to the dog park with us, but I don't want to keep you from going home for the day."

Emboldened, Angela has her phone in her hand and brought to the 'new contact' screen even before Fareeha's finished speaking. "And I don't want to keep Angel from her routine. How about I give you a call when I've freshened up a bit and I can meet you there?"

Fareeha accepts the phone with a grin, thumbs flying as she inputs her information. "That sounds nice."

"And maybe, if Angel's not too tired after, maybe we could get coffee and some dog biscuits at  _Le Bon Chien_?" Fareeha raises an eyebrow, but Angela's not deterred in the slightest. "It's a little cafe downtown and they have dog-friendly seating."

"That's very thoughtful of you," Fareeha says, handing the phone back. She's entered her name in as 'Fareeha & Angel'. "Let's call it a date!"

**Author's Note:**

> >there's a tumblr post where it's like 'i walked by this guy and said his dog was cute and as we parted ways i heard from behind me 'did you hear that? she thinks you're cute!' and i couldn't find the post but basically this was a combination of that and my love for dogs and useless lesbians.  
> >dog cafe is made up


End file.
